Ink bottle dispenser



c. H. D-RAPER INK BOTTLE DISPENSER Aug. 1, 1950 2 sheefas shead 1 Filed Jan. 11, 1947 I/VVE/VTOR. CHARLES HDRAPER.

ATTORNEY.

Aug. 1, 1950 c. H. DRAPER INK BOTTLE DISPENSER 2 SheetS -Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 11, 1947 .Z/VVE/VTUR. CHARLES H..DRA P51?- A TTORNEY- Patented Aug. 1, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to ink dispensers, and more particularly to a bottle adapted for use in the sale of ink in original containers. This application is a continuation in part of my application, Ser. No. 497,086, filed August 2, 1943, now abandoned.

Various attempts have been made to provide ink dispensers in the nature of bottles or inkwells which utilize one means or another for gauging the depth of immersion of the pen point, but, most of these devices are open to the ob jection. that they are expensive, dinicult to use and in some cases involve separate parts which are likely to become displaced in use. For example, it has been proposed to provide a dispensing ink bottle which contains a chamber near the neck thereof for holding a sufficient quantity of ink to either fill a fountain pen or provide ink to a depth which will enable the user of the pen to submerge the point sufilciently to obtain the proper quantity of ink thereon without flooding and without soiling the fingers. Ink dispensers of this type require that, in order to fill the chamber, the cover must be placed tightly on the bottle and the latter tilted to permit ink from the main reservoir to enter the depth-gauging chamber, or on the other hand require some mechanical device such as a pump. Moreover, bottles of this type must be made by the blow" mold process as distinguished from a die pressing method because no such structure would permit withdrawal of the die. It has also been proposed to provide in'k bottles and ink stands with a separate device provided with steps or shoulders which might be engaged by the point of the pen to enable the user to immerse the pen point to the proper depth. However, these devices are impractical because the separate device is readily displaced from its intended position, and, while they may prove satisfactory in the case of stationary ink stands used on desks, nevertheless they are not practical nor desirable for ink dispensing bottles of the type to which the present inventionis specifically directed and in which ink may be purchased from ordinary stationery stores or source of commercial supply.

Again, it has been proposed to provide inkwells, or ink stands, with a conical or funnel-like sheath designed to arrest the insertion of the pen at a certain point. This arrangement has the disadvantage that, if the level of the ink is below the point to which the pen is permitted to descend, the pen point cannot absorb the proper quantity of ink.

Accordingly, a primary object of the: present invention is to provide an ink dispenser in the form of a bottle, ink stand, or the like which eliminates the objections above noted and 'provides a dispenser in the form of a unitary container having a series of steps or shoulders integrally formed with one face of the reservoir and so arranged that the user of the pen may selectively cause the point thereof to engage any one of the steps depending upon the visible level of ink in the well or reservoir. In'that connection the invention contemplates a structure which may be made of thermo-plastic material such, forexample, as glass by the use of a shaping die or plunger which may be inserted and withdrawn from the mold in the procedure of forming the article in a practical and expeditious manner that lends itself to quantity production technique to provide a comparatively inex pensive and yet accurately formed structure.

More specifically, the invention contemplates an ink dispenser wherein the reservoir may be providedwith a series of steps at different elevations and which may be made in a symmetrically ascending order.

A further objector the invention is to provide an ink dispenser including pen depth-gauging steps in combination with an indicator at the neck or mouth of the bottle, which will enable the user to locate the position of the top step when the bottle is full of ink and first opened. With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying draw ings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the invention with the cap thereof removed therefrom.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the invention taken on line 2'--2 of Fig. 1 with the capthereof shown threaded thereon.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the invention taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan. view of a modification of the invention with the cap thereof removed therefrom.

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section of the invention taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4, with the cap thereof shown threaded thereon.

Fig; 6 is a transverse vertical section. of the invention taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section of my invention taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, it will be observed that the same includes a body designated generally as I formed with a cavity providing a reservoir 2 for containing the ink. This reservoir is accessible through a neck 3 whose inner wall represents the largest diameter or area of the reservoir. The said neck 3 may be pro-- vided with conventional external threads or lugs 4 for receiving an internally threaded cap 5 or closure member of any type or design well known to the art.

In the first embodiment illustrated the reser voir 2 has a wall thereof formed with an echelon of steps designated generally as 6. These steps are preferably in the form of ribs whose profiles are each in the form of a parabolic curve, thereby to, provide for allowance for mold draft clearance, but in elfect comprise a step tread l and a parabolic riser Wall 8, with its upper portion 9 leading to said tread and conforming to the smaller curvature of the parabolic curvature of said riser wall 8. As will be apparent from Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the said steps 6 extend throughout the vertical height of the inner wall of the reservoir from a point inwardly of the mouth or the neck to substantially the bottom of the wall or reservoir. In the construction shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the horizontal steps Gare formed on short arcs of equal lengths of the annular wall which forms the inner side of the reservoir 2, with the opposite ends of said steps curved toward the wall of the reservoir 2, as at H].

For the purpose of guiding or assisting the user of the bottle to properly and selectively engage the thread '7 of the top step when the bottle is filled with ink, the inner face of the neck 3 is provided with an indicator II. This indicator may be in the form of a vertical groove into which the point of the pen may fit or engage when the bottle is first opened properly to locate the position of the submerged steps. Obviously, however, the indicator ll may be made in the form of its equivalent, namely, a rib projecting outwardly from the inner face of the neck 3.

Figures 4 to 6 inclusive illustrate a modification in which the body I2 is provided with a reservoir l3 whose inner wall is integrally formed with an internally slightly offset portion [4 which is made on a spiral or helix of uniform diameter and whose upper face is provided with a series of steps, ledges, or abutments [5, like the steps l, presenting a pluralit of pen point resting grounds at progressively different elevations in the reservoir, there being a riser [6 extending from the uppermost step to the upper edge of the bottle for indicating the position of the pen depth steps .when covered with ink.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention provides a unitary article of manufacture wherein the container is provided with a series of pen depth-gauging ledges or pen point arresting steps at different elevations throughout the vertical height or depth of the reservoir. The depth of the risers of the steps is preferably of such length as to insure immer- S1011 of the pen point to the proper depth either to pick up its required ink supply or enable a; fountain pen to be filled without submerging the portion of the barrel next to the point to a depth where ink will cling to it and thus soil the hands in further manipulation after the pen has been filled.

All forms of the invention are particularly designed so as to be produced by the press molding process, that is, a process wherein a die is employed for shaping or pressing the thermoplastic material to form the outer contour of the bottle or container and the reservoir in the same operation. The embodiments of the invention shown are such that the die may be readily withdrawn to leave the plastic material intact. In other words, the die is so designed that proper draft clearance is provided to enable the die to be readily withdrawn from the interior of the bottle after the integral steps have been formed in the reservoir.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a unitary ink dispensing bottle die-formed from thermo-plastic material, comprising, in combination, a body having a top closure receiving neck and an internal subjacent cavity constituting an ink reservoir, said reservoir being provided over a portion of the inner surface of its side wall with an integral echelon of horizontal pen depth engaging steps extending downwardly and inwardly from the neck to the bottom of the reservoir, said steps having tread portions joined by curved edges with substantially vertical risers, to provide a vertical series of pen depth-engaging points from the base of the neck to the bottom of the reservoir.

2. As an article of manufacture, a unitary ink dispensing bottle die-formed from thermo-plastic material, comprising, in combination, a body having a top closure-receiving neck and an internal subjacent cavity constituting an ink reservoir, said reservoir being provided over a portion of its inner surface with an integral echelon of horizontal pen depth-engaging steps extending downwardly and inwardly from the neck to the bottom of the reservoir, said steps having tread portions of horizontally arcuate formation joined by curved edges with substantially vertical risers, to provide a vertical series of pen depth-engaging points throughout the depth of the reservoir, and means at the inner side of the neck extending above the topstep of the reservoir and positioned relative to said steps to constitute an abutment for arresting manual movement of the pen at a point over the initial step submerged by the ink when the dispenser is first put into use.

3. An ink dispensing bottle including a body formed with an ink reservoir and with a plurality of pen depthgauging. steps extending downwardly and inwardly from one side of the side wall of said reservoir, the surfaces of said steps being in the form of parabolic curves.

4. An ink-dispensing bottle including a body formed with an ink reservoir, and with a plurality of pen depth-gauging steps at one side of the side wall of said reservoir, said steps being short in length and formed with transversely convex risers extending downwardly and inwardly from the treads of said steps.

5. An ink-dispensing bottle including a body formed with an ink reservoir, a neck at the upper end of said reservoir, and a plurality of pen depth-gauging steps at one side of the side wall of said reservoir, said steps being short in length and formed with transversely convex risers extending downwardly and inwardly from the side wall of said ink reservoir and from below the lower end of said neck, the inner side of the side wall of said neck being provided with a vertical groove to receive the point of a pen, with said point resting upon the uppermost step, said groove forming an indicator for locating the position of said steps when submerged in the ink in said reservoir.

6. An ink-dispensing bottle including a body formed with an ink reservoir, and with a plurality of pen depth-gauging steps formed on the inner side of the side wall of said reservoir and extending downwardly in said reservoir along said side wall, the surfaces of the risers of said pen depth-gauging steps being in the form of parabolic curves.

CHARLES H. DRAPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Wolz Feb. 11, 1908 Nilsson Mar. 16, 1926 Paul Nov. 5, 1935 Peters May 14, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1940 

